ABSTRACT
The liturgy was developed to show positive liturgical proposals from the Reformed position. Richard Baxter's liturgy seemed to please no one, and was rejected by the bishops. Hyde recounts that the king expected the liturgy to be expedited in the Convocation. Thus there was pressure that the revision of the prayer book should be resolved swiftly. The proposed Liturgy of Comprehension included a long two-page exhortation to be read on the Lord's Day before a confirmation. This stressed the renewal of baptismal vows. The Liturgy of Comprehension takes 1662 further down the road of baptismal renewal and into the territory of covenant renewal, which become major issues in the discussion on confirmation in the eighteenth century. Perhaps the most lasting influence of the liturgy is the spirit of comprehension. The 1734 rite directs the consecration to be after the Nicene Creed in the eucharistic liturgy and anticipates the possibility of infant confirmation and communion.
